Friday, 7 April 2017

Loughborough UCCE v Derbyshire day 1

A solid opening day for Derbyshire, with Gary Wilson producing exactly the sort of innings that he was recruited for.

A near run-a-ball century restored an innings that was wobbling at 148-4. Neither Wayne Madsen nor Daryn Smit got going, but these are early days and I am sure that both players will be in nick before too long. Wilson simply carried on the form that has seen him through a successful winter and that will doubtless prove a huge asset to us this

Billy Godleman got some early runs under his belt, as did Shiv Thakor, and the final total was scored at a healthy 4.5 runs an over, allowing Tom Milnes to take a wicket with his second ball, before the home side saw things through to the close.

Like last week, time in the middle is worth more than anything else here.

Expect a draw, but some solid personal performances will cement places in the side for the season opener proper next week.

In theory, Viljoen and Mendis will be in the side for the next game. You also need to give credit to a good opposition, who scored 550-plus in their last game against Northants, who in turn hammered Glamorgan yesterday.

No attack bowls sides out EVERY time and for Taylor, Davis and Thakor, all of who missed a fair bit of cricket last year, it is important to get the body going again in a match, before they really hit their stride.

About Me

I've been a fan of Derbyshire since 1967 and experienced the ups and downs with everyone else.
I work for a major retailer and love my job, although wishing it was closer to Derby!
I'm married to the gorgeous Sylvia, have been for 32 years and we have two great
kids. There's Steve "Man Mountain", who is 26, 6'5" and a computer software engineer for a multi-national company. Then there's the lovely perky Rachel, who
at 20 has the sunniest of all dispositions at any time of day. Not forgetting Wallace, the fox terrier, a quite wonderful dog!
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